TODAY IS THE DEADLINE FOR WHITE HOUSE TO RELEASE ALL SOLYNDRA DOCUMENTS: “Tuesday is the deadline for the White House to hand over all Solyndra documents related to an earlier subpoena. Republican panel leaders have threatened to force a contempt of Congress vote if they don't get the documents.” (Alex Guillén, Politico’s “Morning Energy,” 2/17/2012)

AFTER HE USED STATE OF THE UNION TO EMBRACE HIS RECORD OF FAILURE ON “GREEN” PROGRAMS LIKE SOLYNDRA: “Some technologies don't pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. … It's time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable and double down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising. Pass clean-energy tax credits.” (“Transcript: Obama Delivers State of the Union Speech,” CNN, 1/24/2012)

Meanwhile, another report last week showcased the shocking extent of Democrats’ crony capitalism, with Obama bundlers gaining positions in the White House after the 2008 elections and then directing loans to companies their former firms invested in:

OBAMA’S “GREEN” PROGRAM “INFUSED WITH POLITICS AT EVERY LEVEL”: “Meant to create jobs and cut reliance on foreign oil, Obama’s green-technology program was infused with politics at every level, The Washington Post found in an analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal ­e-mails. Political considerations were raised repeatedly by company investors, Energy Department bureaucrats and White House officials.

CRONY CAPITALISM? WASHINGTON POST AUDIT FINDS $3.9 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY WENT TO “21 COMPANIES WITH CONNECTIONS TO FIVE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION STAFFERS AND ADVISERS”: “During the next three years, the department provided $2.4 billion in public funding to clean-energy companies in which Wagle’s former firm, Vantage Point Venture Partners, had invested, a Washington Post analysis found. Overall, the Post found that $3.9 billion in federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by firms with connections to five Obama administration staffers and advisers.” (Carol Leonnig and Joe Stephens, “Venture Capitalists Play Key Role in Obama’s Energy Department,” The Washington Post, 2/14/2012)

But as Democrats double down on their failed policies of betting taxpayer dollars on high-risk green companies, Americans are feeling the consequences of their hostility to traditional energy development in the form of higher gas prices: